To many people living in the eastern United States and Europe, the Wild West of the late 1800s seemed to be a romantic and exciting place where dashing bandits robbed stages and played Robin Hood roles. The dime novels that were so prolific during the period helped to exaggerate and glorify the life of the western criminal.
Honest, hardworking residents of the area, however, knew the facts, and the facts were that most criminals were just bad men who would steal anything that wasn't nailed down, and shoot a man because the wind was blowing wrong.
Brown's Park had become known as a wild place where outlaws could take shelter in the countless gorges and hidden valleys. There was nothing romantic about knowing that the horseman in the distance might be a murderer or a cattle rustler, and the homesteaders decided to clean up the neighborhood.
During the last week of February of 1898, officers of Routt County and Brown's Park ranchers teamed up to capture notorious Harry Tracy and David Lant, murderer P.L.Johnstone and John Bennett, who was wanted for cattle rustling.
The Courier of March 12, 1898 carried the largest headline ever used in its history to announce the capture of the outlaws and the murder of one of Brown's Park's outstanding homesteaders, Valentine Hoy.
Officers made their way to Vermillion Creek and learned that a Wyoming man had been killed by one of the men they were looking for. With the help of a quickly formed posse, the officers found the outlaws' camp at the head of Ladore Canyon. Horses and supplies were captured, but the subjects of the search had taken off.
The Courier tells the story:
"The next day, March 1, the posse was pressing the outlaws closely. V.S. Hoy was in advance of the other men. Sheriff Neiman cautioned him not to be too fast, but he was under the impression that Johnstone and his companions had gained the other side of the mountain and thought there was no immediate danger. In this he was mistaken, for without a word of warning, he was shot down and killed, his murderers being not more than six feet away when the fatal shot was fired.
"Mr. Hoy was approaching a cleft between two huge boulders and the murderers were concealed in this cleft. Two shots were fired almost simultaneously, only one of which took effect.
"Only one man was seen directly after the shooting and he was recognized as Harry Tracy, an escaped convict from the Utah Penitentiary. As the outlaws had the advantage, nothing could be accomplished toward their capture that day. The killing of Hoy made the citizens of Brown's Park desperate."
Hours after the shooting, John Bennett crossed paths with some of the homesteaders. Through a clever trick and some hard riding on the part of officers Neiman and Farnham, Bennett was taken into custody on the Bassett Ranch.
Farnham was left to guard the man, but was relieved of his duties by ten rifles pointed at him by masked men. The men threw a sack over Bennett's head and told him to get ready to meet his maker. Without further ado, they then hanged Bennett from the cross bar of a corral gate.
While the lynching was going on, the rest of posse chased the remaining three outlaws another 60 miles before capturing them.
Tracy and Lant claimed innocence in Hoy's murder, but officers were not convinced, and the pair was transported to the Hahn's Peak jail to await trial.
They had been in the jail less than a month when they overpowered Sheriff Neiman, knocked him out, and locked him in a cell. They made their escape on two stage horses stolen from a nearby stable and stopped along the route to get saddles. They planned to catch the stage for Walcott to get out of the territory.
Tracy and Lant were waiting for the stage the next morning at the Laramore Ranch. They had evaded law officers before, and they were sure that they had done it again.
The stage pulled up in a swirl of dust and the two made ready to board. Their plans were quickly changed when they discovered that the passengers already on board included Sheriff Neiman and a deputy. There was nothing to be done but surrender peacefully.
The pair was sent to the jail in Aspen after their recapture. The new jail was considered one of the best in the state, and officials felt sure that it would hold Tracy and Lant.
It did hold them - for a couple of months, at least.
The Courier updated the story on June 25, 1898:
"The prisoners in some manner got possession of an iron bar and when jailer Jones went to remove the supper dishes, Lant struck him on the head with the bar, knocking him senseless. They bound and gagged the jailer and, after securing his gun waited for darkness. Sheriff Fisher missed the jailer and upon looking for him found himself confronting jailer Jones' gun which was in the hands of Tracy.
"The Sheriff was unarmed and beat a hasty retreat. Before he could get his gun Lant and Tracy had escaped and at last accounts there was little chance for their capture."
Tracy and Lant made their way northwest after their escape. Reports conflict about Lant's end, but Tracy apparently died with his boots on. After a number of killings, he was finally cornered and shot himself rather than give up.
Brown' Park residents didn't miss their shady neighbors, and the ranches continued to prosper.
No comments:
Post a Comment